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This Thursday afternoon proceeding follows an earlier hearing over the summer, in which lawmakers discussed cost overruns and construction delays. State Senator Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, suggested at that point that it might be “substantially cheaper to just stop” development of KentuckyWired than to keep building it.

It would. Suspending this project also might save several private homes and businesses.

The seeds of KentuckyWired were sown in 2013, when the state legislature approved $30 million in bonds for the network’s construction. The project would also be supported by $23 million in federal grants and an additional $270 million in taxpayer-backed bonds that were sold to finance the network.

When former Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers announced in 2014 that the state had inked a deal with Macquarie Capital of Australia to build a 3,000-mile fiber optic network, they said the system would be finished by 2016.

In October 2015, however, officials delayed the completion date to fall 2018. Then, in January 2016, they said it wouldn't be completed until “late 2018.” Today, KentuckyWired’s target completion date isn't until late-2019. And considering the project's performance record to date, it’s likely that 2019 may also be too optimistic. Only 129 miles of fiber are complete.

In addition to construction delays, the ill-advised endeavor suffers mounting costs. The state and its partners so far have spent $175 million, which means the per-mile cost is $1.3 million. Readers can do the math, but at that rate it will take much, much more than the $324 million originally secured for KentuckyWired to get the job done.

Compounding that harm, the mess is also negatively affecting Kentucky’s credit.

Specifically, Fitch Ratings downgraded to negative the outlook for KentuckyWired bonds based on the continued delays, and that has led to financial penalties. So far, the construction setbacks have led to fees that have risen into the tens of millions of dollars, which taxpayers could be on the hook to pay.

Taxpayers should not be forced to provide even more revenues to bail out KentuckyWired. That's especially true considering that, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, they face a $12.4-billion backlog in drinking and wastewater infrastructure needs and school capital requirements totaling $453 million, not to mention a mounting $40-billion deficit in state pension obligations.

In addition to construction delays and cost overruns, as noted above, the boondoggle also poses a growing and serious threat to private property owners.

To wit, the Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA), which oversees KentuckyWired and which will likely appear before the Appropriations and Revenue Committee at its hearing, recently requested proposals seeking legal services for expected eminent domain litigation.

In plain language, that request for proposal states that, in order to finish KentuckyWired, “the Commonwealth may need to obtain easements across properties owned by private citizens.”

That should disturb every Kentucky resident. Private property ownership is a right so fundamental that the U.S. Constitution guarantees it against eminent domain infringement except for truly "public" purposes, such as military bases, highways and other absolutely necessary public uses. Over the last two decades, however, local and state governments have become more aggressive in their efforts to exploit eminent domain powers.

When that happens, the primary victims are the poor, who cannot afford the type of legal counsel that KCNA itself seeks.

Officials at KCNA attempt to defend the proposal and rationalize use of government eminent domain powers by citing the alleged economic development that KentuckyWired could generate. The benefits of government-owned broadband, however, have never been established in a way that justifies those claims.

Quite the contrary, several studies, including a 2014 report by the Mercatus Center, establish that no net economic benefits follow.

If proponents of the KentuckyWired proposal are allowed to confiscate private homes and businesses on such a flimsy rationale, then what property remains safe?

At their hearing this month, lawmakers must therefore press KCNA officials about their eminent domain scheme. Until those questions are answered, lawmakers cannot in good faith appropriate or approve another dime.

The better course for taxpayers and for property owners would be for the Commonwealth to follow Sen. McDaniel's advice to “just stop.”

Timothy Lee is senior vice president of Legal and Public Affairs at the Center for Individual Freedom (www.cfif.org).